


Don't Call My Name

by ACR



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-07
Updated: 2012-09-07
Packaged: 2017-11-13 17:48:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/506112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ACR/pseuds/ACR
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek tries to find out Stiles' real name, no matter what it takes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't Call My Name

“What’s Stiles’ real name?” Derek asked bluntly, sliding into the empty chair across from Scott. He pretended to be unphased when Scott nearly jumped out of his own chair in surprise, but secretly thought that freaking out the beta was one of the more pleasant experiences in life.

“Dude! You scared the shit out of me!” Scott fumed angrily. After a moment of realizing Derek had no intention of replying with more than an eye roll, he gestured around them at the library, “Do you mind? I am trying to study.”

Derek scoffed, “No you’re not. You’re _pretending_ to study while you wait for _Allison_ to finish studying and call you. Be honest.”

Scott didn’t deny it, just frowned and turned the page of the Psychology textbook he obviously wasn’t reading. Derek smirked and considered that a win. He studied over the notebook Scott had open, with a few notes, but mostly half-hearted doodles of him and Allison. Derek nearly gagged.

“So, why do you want to know Stiles’ name?” Scott asked after a few moments, not looking up from whatever he was looking at in the book. Derek assumed it was a picture. Scott had never struck him as the reading type. Or the smart type, really.

“Just curious, I guess. I figured if anyone would know, it’d be you.”

Scott smiled all lopsided and knowing, “Curious enough to hunt me down at the library, apparently.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Derek leaned back and rolled his eyes again, “You’re so important.”

“So why didn’t you just ask him?”

“Would he tell me?” Derek muttered sarcastically, earning a high laugh from the younger boy. A grumpy looking librarian shot them a dirty look.

“Fair point,” Scott said in a low voice, but still smiling.

“So?”

The smile quickly dissolved into something like an uncomfortable and distant look. Scott shifted a bit and closed his book, setting it down.

“I wouldn’t tell you anyways, but for the record, I don’t actually know.” Scott said, trying to shrug his shoulders like it was no big deal, but suddenly they looked more tense than usual.

“What?” Derek eyed him doubtfully, “You don’t know his real name? Aren’t you like… best friends?”

The comment didn’t seem to help Scotts irritability, and he scowled at Derek. It wasn’t really that menacing. “I met Stiles in middle school, after his mom died. By then he was going by Stiles! I never knew him as any other name.”

Derek sighed, “But you go to school with him. Haven’t teacher called him by it?”

“He always asks the teachers to call him Stiles ahead of time,” Scott waved it off, “And before you even ask, he always signs everything as ‘Stiles’ too. So I don’t know. I really don’t.”

“Haven’t you ever heard his-”

“Dad call him that?” Scott shook his head, “No. Not even when he was angry.”

Derek leaned back and frowned. If he wanted to know Stiles’ name, he’d have to try a different approach. Someone who knew Stiles before he went by it. He could only think of one person, and he grimaced at the thought.

He stood up to leave, glancing one last time at Scott. “Why doesn’t he go by his real name, anyway?”

Scott shrugged, “I don’t know. Whenever I ask, he always just laughs it off like it’s a funny joke. I have an idea, though.”

“Yeah?”

“Well, he only started going by Stiles when his mom died, right?” Scott rubbed his hands together, “Maybe the name reminds him of her, so he doesn’t like it.”

Derek considered that, “Or you’ve been reading too many psychology books.”

Scott grinned up at him, “I just like the pictures, really.”

\--

Derek stalked quietly through the trees, listening for the familiar little ‘whop’ of arrows hitting the earth and trees. He’d seen the two girls out here earlier, Allison teaching Lydia how to shoot with a bow. He figured it was only a matter of time before Allison frolicked off to meet Scott, and since he could only hear the sounds of one person now, he had probably assumed correctly.

When he finally found her, she was focusing a fair amount on aiming at the tree with her bow. She shot off the arrow and it zoomed past, barely missing the bark. She made a sound of frustration and grabbed another arrow.

Derek leaned against a near-by tree, “Having fun on my property?”

She barely glanced at him, like she had been expecting him to show up. She started readying the next arrow, “You know, not every tree and forest area belongs to you.”

“Actually it kinda does,” Derek smirked, folding his arms and walking closer to her, “I could show you my property line if you want to see it.”

Her cheeks reddened a bit, “Oh. Well, you don’t care anyway, right?”

“Not really.”

“Then good,” She pulled the arrow up, brushing it over her cheek, “Did you want something?”

“Yeah, I have a question you might know the answer to,” He waited for her arrow to go sailing off, scraping through the bark before flying off into the ground, “Do you know Stiles’ real name?”

She paused for a moment, looking out at where the arrow had vanished among the leaves on the ground. Finally she lowered the bow, “Yeah, I do.”

Derek couldn’t help the way his heart sped up a bit now that he was closer to the small curiosity that had somehow grown. “Really?”

She looked considering for a second before reaching for another arrow, “Yeah. We went to elementary school together. Everyone called him Stiles back then too, but I didn’t because I thought it was stupid.”

Derek laughed, “Still think that?”

She looked at him finally, away from where she was pointing the newest arrow, “No.” Her tone was serious enough to wipe the smile off of Dereks mouth. He stared at her as she turned to focus back on the tree she was aiming at, “When his mom died, everyone knew. They kind of avoided him at first, and then they started consoling him, calling him by his real name. He snapped and told them his name was Stiles. I realized then that it was important. New identity, new future.”

Derek nodded, “So people stopped calling him that.”

“Yeah,” She shot of the arrow and it lodged itself into the tree. She smirked, standing tall and suddenly seemed more… LYDIA than she had the entire conversation, “And I’m not telling you either, if that’s what you’re asking next.”

Derek scowled at her, “Why not?”

“Because,” She smiled innocently at him, “Stiles would kill me! And it’s fun leaving you out of stuff.”

“Lydia,” He said in his darkest tone. He knew the way it made Scott jump with fear and Isaac submit to him. Maybe it would work on her. She glared at him, reaching for another arrow, but he heard her heart speed up in fear.

“I made a promise to him, in a way,” She readied the arrow, “When I called him Stiles the first time. That I’d do that for him, help him change. Telling you won’t get me anything.”

He sighed and spun around and began walking back to the Hale house. He was a bit annoyed that he was running out of options on finding out, but he was determined now. He heard a swoosh sound as the arrow flew past his head.

“You missed!” He called back.

“I usually do!” She replied, laughing.

\--

“You want what?” Danny looked skeptical from where he was sitting at his desk. Derek was impressed with the amount of cords and metal… things around his room. It all looked very high tech. And Danny didn’t even seem that phased when Derek knocked on his window and invited himself in.

Out of everyone, Derek probably enjoyed Dannys company the most (besides Stiles), because he was a fairly funny and kind person. Derek was admittedly unsure about telling Danny about the werewolf business at first, but it was kind of hard to keep it from him when Jackson tried to kill him on his second full moon. So they ended up including him, and with his hacking abilities, Derek was kind of glad they did.

“I want you to hack into the school computer and find out Stiles’ name.”

Danny shifted and looked uncomfortable, “I don’t know if-”

“I know you can do it,” Derek blinked at him, “You do it all the time.” And it was true. Dannys main purpose these days was to get on and make the students ‘absents’ go away when they couldn’t make it to school due to werewolf issues. And Derek knew for a fact Danny had changed a fair few of Scotts D’s to C’s as well.

Danny finally gave in and shrugged, logging into his computer, “Okay. But you aren’t going to like what you find.”

Derek frowned at that but leaned forward anyway. He gripped the back of Dannys chair and watched him open programs and type in things too quickly for him to follow. Derek had never been good with computers. Most days he could barely work a cellphone.

“Here’s the roll,” Danny said after a few minutes, revealing a huge list of students names and transcripts. Derek leaned closer over Dannys shoulder and eyed the screen as Danny scrolled down to the S section. Derek scanned the list and let out a firm growl at what he saw.

“Stiles Stilinski?” Derek groaned, “What the fuck?”

“I changed it a while back,” Danny laughed nervously, “Stiles asked me to. I guess he got sick of telling teachers to call him that. And I can’t resist that face, so of course I did it. It was about a year ago.”

Derek walked towards the window, slamming his face against it and leaving it there, “You are no help.”

“Sorry man,” Danny smiled at him, a genuine bright smile that Derek couldn’t really be mad at.

“Do you know what it was? Before you changed it, I mean.” Derek asked doubtfully, opening the window. Danny probably wouldn’t tell him even if he knew.

“No,” Danny shrugged, “I don’t remember. I guess I have never been that curious, so I didn’t think to log it into my memory. Especially if it’s something he was so adamant about changing. Did you know he plans to legally change his name to Stiles when he turns eighteen?”

The sentence made Dereks heart wrench in his chest for some reason, “Really?”

Danny just nodded, then his face became serious, “You should just ask him, Derek. He’d tell you.”

“He didn’t tell Scott.”

“Yeah, well, he’s not in love with Scott either.” Danny said, and then blushed. Derek smiled at that, though he and Stiles had yet to say those types of things to each other. Technically he didn’t even think they were dating. Maybe they were. They were together a lot and they did stuff, and everyone assumed they were having sex (though they weren’t).

“I’ll ask him, I guess,” Derek sighed, hopping out of the open window and into the cold night.

\--

The next day found Derek sitting on Stiles’ bed and reading a book when he came home from school. Stiles no longer looked even a little bit phased to Derek basically breaking and entering into his house.

“Hello,” Stiles said quickly, dropping his lacrosse bag and reaching over to kiss the top of Dereks head. He hurried to the other side of the room to change out of his shirt, which was clinging to him with water from the rain outside. Derek thought it smelled good on Stiles, and then banished the thought when he realized how weird that was.

When Stiles wasn’t so wet, he clicked on his computer and flopped into his desk chair. He turned around and smiled lightly at Derek.

“Hello?” He said again, reaching out with his foot to tap Dereks knee, “Earth to Sourwolf?”

Derek looked up and him and sent him a glare that was earned every time Stiles called him that. He got a laugh for his troubles.

“What are you doing here?” Stiles asked.

“Do I need a reason to visit you on a rainy day?” Derek asked, turning the page in his book. But really he wasn’t paying that much attention to the words anyway. This meeting had been putting knots in his stomach.

“Usually you always have a reason for visiting me,” Stiles scratched his head, “You don’t strike me at the ‘randomly show up’ type of person. Though I appreciate it.”

Derek smiled.

“Hmm, so why are you here?”  Stiles tapped his chin dramatically, “Could it be you’ve finally lost the will to live without my presence? Or maybe you finally got bored of brooding alone in your burnt down house? But you, bored of BROODING? Never. Maybe you came here just to brood, and make me brood with you. Or maybe you just wanted to read in silence, because let’s face it, your beta pack is totally obnoxious. But why would you come here when you know I never shut up? Maybe that’s it. Maybe you missed the sound of my voice. Or maybe-”

“Stiles!” Derek said loudly, but he was smiling, “Do you even know _how_ to be quiet?”

Stiles grinned, “Not really.”

“Maybe I just wanted your company,” Derek sighed, feeling suddenly exasperated.

“Yeah, but that’s probably not it,” Stiles nudged his leg again, “Come on, out with it. What’s up?”

Derek eyed him. He wanted to go about this a different way, but he figured he might as well go for it while he could. “I actually did have a question. Well, a curiosity.”

“Ohh Derek Sourwolf doesn’t know everything? Shock and awe!” Derek glared at him so Stiles gave in, “Fine. What?”

“I wanted…” Derek closed his mouth, looking for the right words. He searched Stiles face, which quickly dropped from happy to concerned the longer Derek didn’t say anything. He scooted his chair closer and reached for Derek hands.

“Derek, is something wrong?” He asked in a low, careful voice.

“No,” Derek shrugged, “I was just curious. It’s weird to ask, I guess.”

“Just ask.”

Derek met his eyes, “What’s your name? Your real name, I mean.”

Stiles looked oddly at him for a second, with something like pain and confusion, and then backed up in his chair and let out a throaty laugh.

“Oh my God, Derek!” He snorted out, turning to face his computer, “I thought it was important or something.”

Derek frowned, “It _is_ important.”

“Sure,” Stiles huffed another laugh, “God, don’t freak me out like that.” He clicked onto one of the about 30 tabs he had open with Wikipedia pages. Derek thought he saw something about wolf mating habits on one of them but decided not to think about it. Scotts words of Stiles _laughing it off_ when he asked him about his name were filling up his mind. And before he knew it he had a handful of Stiles shirt and had pushed him up against the nearest wall.

He didn’t know what he wanted. He felt Stiles radiating something between fear and arousal. It’s not like Derek would ever really harm him, so he decided to focus on the latter. A plan formed firmly in his head.

Because Stiles could change his name in the school system, keep it hidden, but there was one place it would always be.

Dereks hands slid up from where they were gripping his shirt to cup the sides of his face. He jerked up Stiles head so that he was looking at him.

“You’re infuriating,” He muttered. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to Stiles’, making it rough and full of friction. He slid his tongue forcefully between Stiles lips and felt him shudder at it, sucking graciously. Derek focused on intensifying the kiss as much as he could as he slid his hands down Stiles body. He grabbed his hands and pinned them above their heads with one hand, getting a moan from low in Stiles’ throat. He slid his other hand over Stiles ass and felt his mark. Time to act. He finalized his maneuver, pulling away from Stiles and biting Stiles lip, something that never failed to completely distract him. As Stiles thrusted forward at the act, Derek pulled his wallet carefully from his back pocket.

He zoomed backwards a few steps, leaving Stiles flustered and wanting against the wall. He smiled and pulled out the wallet. Stiles eyed it and looked confused until he understood. His face drained of color.

“H-hey! No fair! You can’t distract me with make-out!” Stiles said, taking a careful step forward like Derek was holding a grenade. Though it was supposed to be a funny quip, he fell flat and actually sounded frantic.

“Too bad I did,” Derek said, opening it up quickly and making a few pennies fall out and onto the floor. Stiles’ wallet had a few dollars, but was an unorganized mess of School ID’s and receipts.

“Derek,” Stiles voice was panicky, “Don’t.”

Derek met his eyes and considered. He didn’t like that tone of voice. It was mostly new, just reminded Derek far too much of the only time he had seen Stiles have a panic attack. But then he considered never knowing, and how much the curiosity would kill him. It was just a name. Stiles’ would get over it.

He searched the wallet, watching Stiles advance towards him fast out of the corner of his eye. He grabbed the little piece of plastic just in time to drop the rest of the wallet and hold out his hand, pressing firmly against Stiles’ chest. Stiles gripped his wrist, digging his nails there.

“Derek…” It was a warning tone. He ignored it and looked at the drivers license in his hand.

“Gemin?” Derek blinked up and met Stiles eyes, “You freaked out about Genim?”

Stiles eyes looked dark and he let go of Dereks hand. He backed away quickly until he was pressed against the wall near his desk.

“I mean, it’s a nice name,” Derek said, flustered under the look of pure disgust Stiles was giving him. He felt like a flailing child. Humor usually worked on Stiles, “I guess I was expecting something longer.”

“Get out.” Stiles said flatly, his voice void of emotions. That by itself was sort of scary, Stiles was usually a bundle of overflowing emotions.

“I- what?” Derek sputtered. He tossed the license onto the bed and taking a step forward, only to have Stiles lurch a hand out in stopping.

“Get. Out.” Stiles reached over and grabbed the nearest thing, which happened to be an empty soda bottle. Derek couldn’t even open his mouth before he was dodging out of the way to avoid it. It smashed against the wall behind him. He looked up, shocked. Stiles looked equally surprised for a minute, and then reached out again.

“Stiles!” Derek growled. Stiles hurled a ceramic cup that he used to store pencils. The ceramic broke loudly as it hit the wall and the pencils flew out everywhere, though Derek avoided the rain of objects easily.

“Get OUT of my HOUSE!” Stiles shouted. He reached again, this time for a lamp. Derek didn’t need to be told again. He jumped out of the window and into the rain. He thumped the ground loudly.

He leaned against the side of the house and let the rain soak through his shirt. He realized he had left his jacket in Stiles’ room. He breathed heavily and wondered why his body was panicking so badly. His emotions were scattered, his heart felt like it was going to snap in half. He honed his ears on Stiles room, and was returned with silence. He strained harder until he could hear Stiles breathing, shallow and fast. He listened to it slow down. He heard a soft thump, as though Stiles had slid onto the ground. And then he heard the familiar sounds of sobbing.

He couldn’t help it when he wolfed out and launching himself into the tree line, howling as he went.

\--

“What did you do?” Scotts growl sounded completely murderous and Derek jumped at the sound. He wasn’t sure how Scott had managed to sneak up on him in the woods. But then again, he had been pretty distracted. He had to have been out in the woods for over 24 hours, and this was the first time he felt even slightly human.

“What?” Derek growled out, realizing he was still mostly wolfed out when he felt his elongated canines and claws, “How did you find me?”

“It wasn’t that hard, you were leaving an emotional trail all over town!” Scott glared, his eyes flashing gold and hair thickening, “What did you do to Stiles? He’s heartbroken!”

Derek breathed and tried to calm himself. He knew his emotions were probably affecting everyone in his pack, especially Scott. So getting more angry wouldn’t help the situation. He felt his teeth go down a bit and immediately saw some of the tension from Scotts shoulders leave.

“I wanted to know his name,” Derek explained, “I looked at his license.”

“What?” Scott spat, “That’s stupid. You should have just asked him!”

“I did! He avoided the question like you said!”

Scott ran a hand through his hair and let out a frustrated noise, “Did it occur to you that he didn’t trust you with that yet and that you totally betrayed him when you did that?”

Derek grimaced. At the time, no, he didn’t think that. “Why is it such a big deal anyway? It’s just a fucking name!”

“Obviously it’s NOT!”

Derek felt the anger coming back, completely misdirected but whatever. He was angry at Scott for judging him, angry at everyone for not just giving him an answer, angry at Stiles for not trusting him enough to tell him. Mostly he was angry at himself.

“He said you two broke up,” Scott said. It was barely above a whisper, and was full of pain and sympathy. But it was the last words Derek needed and he didn’t care anymore. He launched himself forward and hit Scott full force, knocking him to the ground with a shriek of surprise. He dug a claw into Scotts side as he scrambled under him, lifting up his other hand and struck a fist over Scotts face. He distantly knew he didn’t want to kill Scott, just… hurt something.

Scott spat out blood the third time Derek punched him, and then his hands reacted. He swung his hand up, hitting Dereks throat at full strength, crushing his windpipe. Derek blinked and gasped for air as Scott grabbed his shoulders and hauled him off, pinning him with his knees. Derek growled loudly and swung up a hand, scraping his claws over Scotts chest and making him howl in pain. Scott punched Derek hard in the face, and pain shot out through him. He swung up his legs and hooked around and kicked Scott in the head. When he was dazed, Derek knocked him off and stood up in a crouch. But Scott was smaller, faster, and when Derek had his back turned, Scott shot out and slammed into the back of his leg. He snarled out in pain and heard a very distinctive snap.

Derek reached out for Scott, trying to claw him but barely missing as he crumpled to the ground.  Scott darted around him and plowed into his chest at full force, definitely cracking something there too. He pulled back and stared at Derek with glowing eyes. But Derek didn’t give up. He flung out his useless leg, ignoring the pain, and tripped Scott. He went down fast and Derek jumped him, pinning down his arms. He bared his teeth and eyed Scotts jugular, ready to rip through it and ignored the way Scott whimpered.

Suddenly, there was a shooting pain in his side. He growled and looked up, meeting Allisons brown eyes and she aimed another arrow at him. He left Scott and sprinted on all fours towards her. Another arrow hit his shoulder, another in his stomach. They burned, seared. He vaguely recognized the feel of wolfbane and felt wooziness coming over him, but he kept going with an intent to kill.

He felt Scott slam into him, howling with territory. He felt Allison fear, even as she lurched forward with a syringe, pushing it into his neck.

“Down,” She commanded. He snapped at her hand as it pulled away, but then darkness was descending over him.

\--

He woke up to bright lights over him. He smelled animals and medicine… It wasn’t pleasant. He was far too drowsy and waves of pain were pulsing through him like electricity. But he felt a familiar warmth in his hand. He blinked away the pain in his head from the lights and looked over, seeing Stiles there watching him.

“You’re an idiot,” Stiles breathed out, tightening his grip on Dereks hand.

“Yeah, I know.” Was all Derek could say. He closed his eyes and let the dizziness take him again.

\--

When he woke up the second time, the pain was less terrible. His leg hurt and his chest felt constricted, plus the smell of his own blood was still thick on him, but his migraine was gone and he didn’t feel so medicated.

He pulled up his hands and rubbed his eyes a bit, blinking away the lingering tired feeling. He tried to sit up but the pain in his sides wouldn’t let him. He slumped miserably and felt useless.

“Feeling any better, Derek?” Deaton asked, smiling that obnoxiously knowing smile that Derek really hated.

“Yeah, like a box of fucking kittens.” He snapped. Deaton just laughed.

“I bet. Scott broke your leg and three of your ribs, I imagine you’re overjoyed.”

“Totally,” Derek said, the images of him trying to kill Scott and Allison in the woods suddenly overwhelming him. He didn’t feel so hurt now. He felt totally embarrassed. He had never lost control like that, he never thought he would. If Allison hadn’t been there… Scott would probably be a dead body somewhere by now.

“It was a good think Allison was there,” Deaton voiced Dereks thoughts.

“What did she use on me, anyway?”

“Well, her arrows were tipped with a type of wolf bane I gave her that makes you heal slower than usual. The tranquilizer was my own creation, infused with wolf bane to knock you out until you could calm down.”

“Works well,” Derek said bitterly. Then he sighed, “Thank you.” He didn’t know why he was grateful, but he was. He was so ashamed of the way he had acted. He was glad to anyone who helped stop it.

“You’re welcome. Does the tranquilizer feel like it’s worn off?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Good. You’ll still heal pretty slowly, it’ll take about a day for your bones to heal. I wrapped them up, but it looks like you’ll need crutches. Aside from that, you’re good to go.”

“Is Scott okay?” Derek asked as Deaton helped him sit up. His ribs hurt so he was glad for the help.

“Yeah. I think you knocked out one of his teeth but he’s all healed up and home now.”

Derek let out a sigh of relief and took the crutch that Deaton handed him. He had never used them before but figured they couldn’t be too hard to maneuver.

“Um,” He glanced around. From the window he could tell it was already dark out. And his car was probably still parked near Stiles’ house where he had left it last, “How am I supposed to get home?”

“Someone’s here to give you a ride, of course,” Deaton said matter-of-factly. He held the door open and Derek peered into the lobby, his breath catching when he saw Stiles sitting there with his arms crossed over his chest.

So it wasn’t a dream.

He moved forward and into the lobby, hearing the door click behind him as the vet left the two boys alone. Stiles looked up and met his eyes for a second before looking away, standing up and crossing towards him.

“Do you feel okay?” He asked numbly.

“Awesome. Broken leg and all,” Derek mumbled. Stiles laughed a bit, the way he always did when Derek was funny. But it was heavy and huffy and didn’t sound like Stiles at all.

“Come on. I’ll take you home. Or, to the creepy warehouse you call home.” He said, pressing a warm hand against Dereks back for support.

“Can you take me to my house instead?” Derek asked quickly. He really didn’t want to see the betas right now when he felt weakest.

Stiles gave him an odd look, “Sure.” Derek sighed and hobbled a bit towards the door, letting Stiles open it for him, and out into the air.

It was raining again, just barely, and Derek was hyper aware of the fact he was only in jeans and a wifebeater, all of which was covered in dried blood. He frowned and continued, letting Stiles half-push him along the way towards his jeep.

When they got there, Stiles opened the passenger side door and helped Derek get in. He hated feeling this useless but figured he deserved it. Stiles took his crutches and put them in his back seat before closing the door. Derek watched Stiles circle the car, not missing the way he ran his hands over his head the way he did when he felt stressed.

The door opened and closed, Stiles started up the car and they began driving in silence.

“I’m sorry,” Derek finally said after Stiles had been unnaturally quiet for way too long, “Sorry I pushed, sorry I got your name when you told me not to, sorry…”

“Sorry you tried to kill my best friend?” Stiles asked. It was a joke, but Derek visibly flinched at the words and Stiles eyes softened, “No, I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Derek asked.

“Freaking out,” He let out a breath, “Throwing stuff, telling you to leave, telling everyone that we were broken up.”

Derek leaned against the door and stared out the window and into the rain. Everything looked pretty through rain-covered windows, he thought.

“Are we?” He asked after a few minutes.

“Are we what?” Stiles asked, glancing at him.

“Broken up.”

Stiles breath hitched, “Were we together?”

Derek laughed, “Good point.”

Stiles turned the car off into the woods, “If we were together, I wouldn’t want to break up.”

Derek considered that for a bit, “I want to be together.”

He heard the way Stiles’ heart beat sped up. But he didn’t say anything, not until he pulled into the dirt driveway in front of Dereks burned down house. They both stared up at it. It looked ominous in the rain.

“I hate my name,” Stiles said abruptly, “My mom named me that. Since she died, the name kind of… hurts my dad. So I stopped going by it. Less pain for us both.”

Derek stared at him, “I understand.”

“It’s not that I didn’t want you to know, because I did. I just didn’t want the pain. Not yet. So when you said it…” His voice trailed off and he looked a bit panicked again. Derek was reminded of the way he looked yesterday, and reached out, taking his hand. Stiles looked relieved.

“I know. I shouldn’t have done it. I won’t bring it up, I promise.”

Stiles rolled his shoulders a bit. He sighed and stared back out over the house. “I can’t leave you here. You’ll get wet.” Derek just shrugged and let go of his hand, opening his door.

It was still raining, but it had mostly slowed into a light sprinkle of water. Stiles circled around the car again and grabbed the crutches, helping Derek get re-balanced. Derek closed the door and turned, but Stiles was standing there just looking at him.

“What?” Derek frowned. Stiles shook his head and leaned forward, pressing a kiss to Dereks lips. He felt a bit warmer at the touch, no matter how small and quick it was.

“I want to be together too.” Stiles said, pulling away, “Even though you’re kind of an idiot.”

Derek considered that, “Does that make this our first fight?”

“Not counting all the times you threatened to kill me? Yeah.” Stiles grinned.

“And was that our first kiss in the rain?” Derek asked, knowing how important that cliché could be.

“No,” Stiles leaned forward, “But this is.”

The kiss was better, less nervous, more confident. Derek had never had that before, Stiles initiating and taking control of the kiss. It was really nice, and he felt himself actually _blush_ like a fucking schoolgirl. Stiles spread his lips and took him in, kissing gently but with more intent than before. Derek took it gratefully and wished he could just run his hands all over Stiles without falling on his ass.

Stiles ran his hands down Derek, though. They were gentle, calculating. They ran up his shirt and touched over the bandages holding his broken rips. Stiles danced gentle fingers over them before removing his hands completely, pulling them up to hold Dereks face instead. He deepened the kiss even more, holding it, savoring it, before pulling back.

“Are you really gonna sleep out here in the rain?” Stiles asked. Derek scoffed.

“I’ve slept here before. There actually is a bed in my basement and everything,” He blinked a bit, “Do you want to see?”

Stiles laughed and the poor excuse for a line, “My dad will kill me if I stay. But I guess that’s nothing new.”

“Then stay.” Derek muttered, leaning into Stiles.

Stiles snorted, “Why do you want me to sleep in your nasty house so bad?”

“Because we’re together now,” Derek pressed his nose against Stiles jawline, “And I love you.”

Stiles stiffened for a second, and then pressed a warm hand to Dereks back, guiding him towards the house. He counted that as a win and smiled to himself.

Inside was significantly more dry, though parts of the house creaked as the rain and it dripped through the ceiling. Derek led Stiles through the maze of hallways until he found the only still-working door in the place. He opened it and had Stiles help him down the creaky basement stairs. There was nothing down here anymore besides a mattress on the floor.

“Home sweet home,” Stiles’ said sarcastically as he grimaced at the spiderwebs in the corner. Derek laughed and flopped down onto the huge mattress. It felt a lot better on his ribs to lay down. He patted the space next to him and Stiles finally conceded, lying next to him. The joint warmth felt nice to Derek.

Stiles pulled in closer, burying his head into Dereks shoulder, “Your stupid leather jacket is still at my house.”

“I know,” Derek said, reaching up to pet Stiles hair. He knew how much he liked it when he did that, and sure enough, Stiles was quickly humming his appreciation and drifting to sleep. Derek closed his eyes and let the remains of the medicine take him off to sleep. But just before he was out, he heard a small voice.

“I love you too, you know.” Stiles said, “I have for a long time.”

“How long?” Derek asked quietly.

“Probably since that time you saved me and Scott from the witches.”

“The body-swapping incident?” Derek snorted, “Yeah, fun times. I bet I’ve loved you longer than that.”

“Oh yeah?”

Derek buried his face in Stiles short hair, “Since the pool.”

“I thought you hated me back then!”

Derek groaned, “I did. You were so annoying. I loved having you around, though.”

Stiles breathed out a laugh and relaxed more. Together they drifted off to sleep that was painful and restless, listening to the rain outside. But Derek felt better than he ever had, probably. Because Stiles loved him. That is what mattered. And Derek knew his name, now. He wished he had found it another way but… Stiles obviously trusted him with it more now.

And in the end, names are all we have.

**Author's Note:**

> All done! This was pretty crappy and weak and I wrote it really fast but whatever.  
> I know Genim isn't Stiles' real name but the idea was floating around and well... Genim is like, the cutest name EVER so of course I had to write SOMETHING. I hope you liked it!


End file.
